Retailers must embrace online trading, warns Actinic

Only one in ten retailers has a transactional web site and are losing out as a result

Trading online has become more profitable and less costly to implement, but few retailers are grasping the opportunity, new research from ecommerce software vendor Actinic has revealed.

According to Actinic's sixth annual ecommerce survey, 90 per cent of retailers' ecommerce sites are profitable; and on average, companies that implement ecommerce find it costs 40 per cent less than they anticipated. However, only one in ten retailers has a transactional web site.

“Online stores are rarely unprofitable, because there is huge growth in the sector and overheads are far lower than their offline counterparts,” Actinic chief executive Chris Barling said.

“More consumers are letting their fingers do the shopping, but still too few smaller businesses are grasping the opportunity. Given the ease with which you can set up a web store nowadays, there is no reason not to take the plunge - especially if you already offer home delivery," he added.

The survey did reveal that 20 per cent of companies without an ecommerce facility were planning to implement one, compared with 15 per cent in 2005; and 10 per cent were previously not planning to implement one, but are now "unsure" . However, of those that had already implemented an ecommerce facility the majority built their own sites or used a web designer - very few used a third party such as a reseller or systems integrator.